Excavator bucket



' Ap ril 9, 1929. J ST B 1,70 ,597

EXCAVATOR BUCKET Original Filed Jan. 14. 1926 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 April 9, 1929. J. STUB 1,708,597

' EXCAVfXTOR BUCKET I Original Filed Jan. 14, 1926 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 J Z 1 $7, 1 TOR P BY 22 Z ATTORNEY Patented Apr. 9, 1929.

V JOHN 'STUB, OF DARBY, PENNSYLVANIA.

EXCAVA'I'OR BUCKET.

Application filed January 14, 1926, Serial No. 81,131. Renewed September 24, 1928.

This invention relates to excavator buckets and has particular reference to devices of that general character having movable or tiltable digging members or shells.

Among the objects of this invention is to provide an excavator bucket comprising a plurality of movable shells arranged in proximity to each other, and means for actuating said shells soas to cause their digging edges or lips to move downward and outward of each other, thereby obtaining for various purposes an improved operation and a higher efficiency.

Buckets comprising movable or tiltable shells or the like have been Widely used in the prior art in large scale excavations, and the principle generally employed has been to cause the shells to be actuated in such manner as to cause them to dig toward each other. In other words, in the prior art the shells of the excavatorbuckets uniformly operate so that their digging edges or lips move toward each other, seizing the material which lies in their path and is disposed therebetween. In my invention on the other hand, a radically different principle is employed inasmuch as I cause the shells to operate with their digging edges moving outward and away from each other. In this respect adjacent shell except to the extent that the horizontal forces created in digging due to the reaction of the material that is being dug is properly balanced because of said consistent outward movement, thus creating a horizontal stability in the excavator bucket and permitting it to function in the normal manner.

Numerous advantages result from the novel principle which I employ, and among others may be mentioned that the operation of the shells is more uniform and that the expenditure of power is less inasmuch as there is no tendency for any of the material that is being dug jamming between the lips of the cooperating shells as occurs in buckets used in the prior art. Furthermore, inasmuch as'each shell in my invention has no communication with its adjacent shell, and since each shell can dig and hold a load indeeach shell acts entirely independently of the pendent of the other shell, this bucket will be found to be superior in deep excavations, especially where mud or semi-fluid material is encountered. Buckets of the prior art lose most of such material before the place of dumping is reached. Furthermore, when excavating, since each shell in my invention naturally digs under and into the load, a large amount of material flows or slides into the shells by simple gravity, whereas buckets heretofore employed must depend entirely upon gathering the whole load from on top of the material by force. However, these are merely suggestions of the various uses or advantages which may be obtained and which will be clearly apparent to those who are skilled in tl e art. My invention is not to beconstrued as being limited to any particular function, but is adapted to beapplied in all those various situations to which the broad principle which it embodies renders it applicable.

With the foregoing and other objects in view the invention consists in the arrangement and combination of parts hereinafter described and claimed, and while the invention is not restricted to the exact details of construction disclosed or suggested herein, still for the purpose of illustrating a practical embodiment thereof reference is had to the accompanying drawings in which like reference characters designate the same parts in the several views, and in which Figure 1 is a side elevation of the excavator bucket in loading posit-ion.

Fig. 2 is a side elevation or" the same with parts broken away and showing the shells in loaded position.

Fig. 8 is an end view of the bucket corresponding to Fig. 1.

Fig. l is a sectional view on the line 4.-l of Fig. 1.

Referring now more specifically to the drawings I show my invention as comprising a plurality of shells 10 and 11 which are movably mounted upon a supporting means comprising a pair of side members or plates 12 which are suitably connected with each other [:0 form a strong and rigid frame. The shells are preferably tiltably supported on said frame as by'means of stub shafts 13 at the sides of the shell. Each shell is provided with digging means or lips which may include a plurality of spaced teeth lei or the like such as areconventionally used in excavator buckets. l/Vhen the excavator bucket is in loading position the digging means borne by the shells are disposed in proximity to each other and'preferably in central relation to the bucket. They are also directed downward,

' whereby when the shells are tilted about their axes in the direction indicated by arrows at,-

. the jaws 14 will movedownward and outward of each other and so dig directly into the soil or other material which is to be excavated... The shells then swin continuously to theposition shown in Fig. 2 after which theymay be readily lifted directly by the supporting frame and the material dug dumped by tilting the shells in reverse direction as shown by arrows b.

Suitable power means is provided for actu ating the shells in the manner described, and

said'power means may take any suitable form withii'i the scope of thisiiwention. ,Howeveu I show a cable 15 which is wound upon a pulley 16 as within a groove 17 thereof and constitutes the unloading cable. A companion cable 18 which is shown in dotted lines to distmguish from the cable 15'is likewise proyided and viswound within the gro'ove'19 of 1 the wheel. 16 and in opposite direction relative to the cable 15. Suitableguide wheels 20 or the like are arranged to cause the cables to cooperate in an efficient manner with said wheel. In the position shown in Fig.1, the loading cable 18 is understood to be wound a considerable number of times within its groove 19 so as to provide for a suitable ro 1 tational movement of the wheel 16 such as is necessary in order to secure the desired itilting movement of the shells in view of the gear and sprocket wheel mechanism provided. to operate in conjunction with said wheel as will be described hereinafter. The loading cable 18 is drawn upward causing the wheel 16 to move in counter clockwise direction, while the cable 15 simultaneously moves downward and winds up on said wheel within its groove 17;

After the excavator bucket has been loaded and transported to dumping position the (llrection of movement of the cables is reversed to/cause the buckets to tilt back again into the previous position and to dump the material excavated. p I

Tliev. l1eel16 drives apinion 21 as by means of a pcwer or driving shaft :22 or the like whereon it is'mounted, the pinion 21 having meshing engagement with a gear 23 whichv in turn drives a sprocket wheel 2e, A chain co operates with the sprocket wheel and 1s secured directly to shell 10 at a portion there of remote from the digging jaws as by means of an angle 26 or the like. The sprocket wheel in clockwise direction.

24 will be understood to be keyed to its shaft 27 as by means of a key 28. Likewise a loose pulley or wheel'29 is provided on the shaft 27 co-operating with achain 80 which is positioned in spaced relation to the chain and has engagement with the other shell 11 in a similar manner as described in connection with the shell 10. Preferably the actuating means-including the pinion 21, the gear 23,

and its co-operating members'or parts, are

duplicated near the sides of the excavator bucket to provide for-a uniform pull or actuation on the shells and to distribute evenly the stresses throughout the machine. Associated with the chains 25 and 30 are a pair of idlers 31 which serve as guides to permit the chain 25 to move in the direction of arrows 0 for purposes of loading while the chain 30 moves in the direction of arrows cl, thus securing operation of theshells within a mini-.

bucket in loading position as shown in Fig. 1, a pull is exerted upon the cable 18 in upward directionycausing the wheel 16 to move counter clockwise and thus to turn the gear 23 The result thus that the chains .25 will. exert a pull upon the shell 10 causingthe same to move in tllefCll rection of arrow a. This movement of the shell imparts a pull to the chains 30 which are secured thereto at 35, causing the chain S0 to move in the direction of arrow (Z andfor the shell 11 to move in the direction of arrow a. When the material dug 1s to be dumped a pullis exerted upon the cable 15 causing the wheel 16 to travel in clockwise direct'ioin'and the gear 23 counter clockwise. The drive chains 25 now act directly upon the shell 11 to tilt the same in the direction of arrow 6, such movement imparting a pull to thechains 30 which are-secured to the shell 11 at 35. It will be seen that the sprocket wheels 24 act uniformly as the main driving members mconpmction with the chains 25 and that in each-case both the chains 25 and the chains 30 wind up along the outer curved surfaces of the shells so as to prevent any slack in course of operation of the bucket. When the bucket is being loaded the shell 10 receives the direct driving force communicated by the driving chains 25, while when the bucket is being unloaded the shell 11 receives the main driving or communicating force from the chains 25. Thechains O in each case act between the co-operating shells to transmit force from the shell which receives the main driving force to the com panion she'll.

/ I'claim: I

1. lnan excavator of the type-comprising two shells each having a digging lip, and wherein the-shells are mounted for pivotal movement about fixed axes in a horizontal plane, to swing their said lips in opposite directions away from each other for a digging and shell-loading operation and to swing their said lips again in opposite directions but now toward each other for dumping their loads and to restore the excavator to digging condition; the combination with said shells 01" means for supporting and positively rotating the shells as described, said means including a frame, pivots for the shells establishing said axes and carried by the frame, a pulley rotatable on said frame, flexible means for rotating said pulley in opposite directions, power-multiplying means driven by said pulley and including a rotatable element on an axis equidistant from the firstmentioned axes, and a flexible element passing over and driven by said rotatable element, said flexible element at one side said rotatable element-being anchored to an outer surface of the bot-tom wall of one shell at a point removed from the digging lip of that shell and at the other side oi said rotatable element being anchored to the outer surface of the bottom wall of the other shell at point comparatively close to the diggin lip of that shell.

2. A construction as set forth in the preceding claim including a second rotatable element on said frame, said flexible element between the first rotatable element and one of the points of securement of said flexible ele ment passing over and driving said second rotatable element always in a direction. opposite to the direction or" drive of the first rotatable element.

In an excavator of the type comprising two shells each having a digging lip, and wherein the shells are mounted for pivotal movement about i xed plane, to swing their said lips in opposite directions away from each other for a digging and shell-loading operation and to swing their saidlips again in opposite directions but now toward each other for dumping their loads and to restore the excavator to digging condition; the combination with said shells oi means for supporting and positively rotatthe shells as described, said means including a frame, pivots for the shells establishing said axes and carried by the frame, power transmitting and multiplying means on said frame, said shells having bottoms with elements which are approximately semi-circular in curvature and having said axes as axes of centers for said elements, and a plurality of operative connections secured to the bottoms axes in a horizontal of such shells, each of said operative connec- V tions continuously engaging the power transmitting and multiplying means over said bot-toms during movements of the shells from digging position to: load carrying position and vice versa.

4. In an excavator of the type comprising two shells each having a digging lip, and wherein the shells are mounted for pivotal movement about fixed axes in a horizontal plane, to swing their said lips in opposite directions away from each other for a digging and shell-loading operation and to swing their said lips again in opposite directions but now toward each other for dumping their loads and to restore the excavator to digging condition; the combination with said shells of means for supporting and positively rotating the shells as described, said means including a frame, pivots for the shells establishing said axes and carried by the frame. power transmitting and multiplying means on said frame, and operative connection secured at one end to one of said shells near its lip and continuously engaging a driven element of said power transmitting and multiplying means, this operative connection at its other end being secured to the other of said shells at a point remote from its lip; and a second operative connection secured at one end to the last-mentioned shell near its lip and secured at its other end to the first shell at a point remote from its lip, this second con nection being a flexible connection and there being provided a rotatable member having an axis equidistant from the first mentioned axes over which rotatable member said flexible connection is guided to maintain portions thereof always wrapped about the bottoms of both shells.

5. In an excavator of the type comprising two shells each having a digging lip, and wherein the shells are mounted for pivotal movement about axes in a horizontal plane,

to swing said lips away from each other for a digging and loading operation, and to swing said lips toward each other for dumping the loads and to restore the excavator to digging condition; the combination with said shells of power means operating in alternation on one of said shells and then on the other to rotate the shell operated on, and flexible means interconnecting said shells to cause the operated shell to rotate the other shell.

6. An excavator as set forth in claim 5 wherein the flexible means coacts with a plurality of vertically spaced idlers, as and for the purpose described and specified.

7. In an excavator of the type comprising two shells and each having a digging lip, and wherein the shells are mounted for pivotal movement about axes in a horizontal plane to swing said lips away from each other "for a digging and loading operation, and to swing said lips toward each other for dumping the loads and to restore the excavator to digging condition; the combination with said shells, of means to cause same to rotate, including a 5 sprocket, a chain for said sprocket, said chain being connected to said shells at the ends thereof, to operate, by tension on the chain first on one of the shells and then on the other according to the direction of rotation of the sprocket to directly cause first one shell and In test-i1nonyWl1ere0fI affiX my signature.

7 JOHN STUB. 

